Improvement in wood pavements



H. E. PERRY.

\mprevennent in Wood Pavements.

Patented Feb. 27, 872

lnventou Q s e SJ 7 S e M W PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. PERRY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOD PAVEMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,081, dated February 27, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY E. PERRY, of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Wooden Pavements; and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawing are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and'use my said invention or improvements without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to pavements composed of wooden blocks; has for its object to provide a means for firmly uniting and wedging the blocks into one firm mass, at the same time providing a sure foothold for horses; and consists in so constructing the blocks that, when laid in position to form the pavement, spaces of a V-shape will be left between the blocks of such depth and capacity as to form a receptacle for a gravel or concrete filling, the block being so laid that the filling between every pair of blocks shall abut against the center of the blocks in the adjacent rows, thus forming a checkered surface, and preventing the slipping of horses feet, and the whole being rammed and compacted, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable those skilled in the manufacture of blocks and laying of wooden pavements to fully understand and appreciate the nature and advantages of my invention, I will describe the same, referring by letters to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a wood pavement illustrating the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a block, showing one of many ways of economically providing for the Wedge-shaped interstice. As I have shown but this one kind of block I will refer only to it.

Similar letters indicate the same part in the difierent figures.

A is a wooden block with base and top out at such a bevel that, when one corner is cut off, the two inclined faces E and B are formed,

the forming serving as one side of the V-shaped space when the latter is made to rest upon its neighbor block. It will be seen that the inclination given to the blocks serves to form perfectly the other side of the V-shaped space. This space I have represented by the letter a. The top D of the blocks and the bottom C are in parallel planes, and the concrete space a extends down to such a depth as to insure the retention of the concrete wedge, and thus enable it to perform its function of spreading the blocks, causing, at the same time, such frictional contact as to preclude the possibility of either the blocks or filling working loose, while the concrete serves, at the same time, the purpose of a foothold. It is obvious that the V- shaped space a may be obtained in a variety of ways, which experience will dictate, and I do not, therefore, wish to limit myself in this particular.

The gist of my invention rests in providing a V-shaped space between the blocks, which, when filled with concrete and rammed, will effectually wedge the mass of blocks together and hold them firmly in place without the aid of any auxiliary keyin g devices or socketsupports, the base of the blocks being of greater extent than the top, and resting directly upon the board or earth foundation.

I am aware that pavements have been constructed in which the upper corners of the blocks are chamfered off, forming a shallow groove for the purpose of receiving some material of a rough nature to insure the foothold of horses; and I do not, therefore, wish to be understood as claiming any such block or purpose; but

Having described thenature and advantages of my improvement, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A wood pavement, composed of the blocks A, of the form shown, when arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my handand seal.

H. E. PERRY. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

C. W. M. SMITH, J. L. BOONE. 

